Want More Donors This Summer? Try These 5 Website Fixes to Spark Monthly Giving

I'm sharing five website tweaks I've discovered while working with eight organizations through VIP intensives since March. These simple changes can transform your website into a catalyst for evergreen monthly giving growth, even during the summer fundraising slump.

Book your VIP Intensive here.

• Make your homepage message unmistakably clear - ensure visitors immediately understand what you do, who you serve, and why it matters
• Create a dedicated monthly giving landing page that explains your program, builds community, and makes recurring support a no-brainer
• Add strategic pop-ups to your top five most-visited pages with urgent, emotional language specific to your cause
• Make your email signup irresistible by replacing generic "join our newsletter" language with compelling, mission-aligned messaging
• Clean out subscribers who haven't opened emails in 60+ days to improve deliverability and focus on truly engaged supporters

Don't buy into the myth of summer fundraising slumps! Giving Tuesday's Data Commons team reports consumer spending actually spikes during summer months, representing a potential 25% increase in giving worth $22.5 billion annually. Make your website work for you while you're on vacation!

If today's tips helped, send me a DM on Instagram or a quick note on LinkedIn to let me know what you're implementing.

This show is brought to you by iDonate. Your donation page is leaking donors, and iDonate's new pop-up donation form is here to fix that. See it in action. Launch the interactive demo here and experience how a well-timed form captures donors in the moment they care most.

Let's Connect!

• Send a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn and let us know what you think of the show!
• My book, The Monthly Giving Mastermind, is here! Grab a copy here and learn my framework to build, grow, and sustain subscriptions for good.
• Want to book Dana as a speaker for your event? Click here!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, it's Dana here.
Welcome back to Missions toMovements.
This is another quick fire,impromptu episode that I just
felt inspired to record today.
So it is literally beingrecorded today and uploaded live
today, right before the July4th holiday.
So I hope you are staying cooland enjoying the summertime.

(00:23):
And that's kind of what I wantedto talk about is this
summertime slump period, so thismight be a time where you're
seeing fewer donations roll in,and that might be because you're
just not asking.
This isn't a big time of asks,but I have been working since
March with eight differentorganizations through VIP
intensives, so I've had eightVIP intensives and there's been

(00:46):
some pretty consistent patternsthat have emerged when I'm doing
these intensives, and so Iwanted to kind of break down
five tips for you on how we canspecifically refresh your
website slight tweaks so thatit's working harder for you year
round, even during this summerperiod, and really can become

(01:08):
the catalyst for evergreenmonthly giving growth.
So not that you have to send anemail to get somebody to your
website, but if someone is onyour website, if they're landing
there, are they inclined togive a recurring gift or do they
leave right away, or do theymaybe just give one time.
So through these patterns,essentially over these VIP

(01:29):
intensives in this episode, Iwanted to break down the most
important tweaks that you canreally make this summer, maybe
before you put that out ofoffice on, to really kind of
drive some evergreen gifts.
So number one is to make yourhomepage message unmistakably
clear.
So when someone lands on yourwebsite, can they immediately

(01:54):
understand what you do in theheader before they even have to
scroll specifically on mobile.
Do they know what you do?
Do they know who you serve?
Do they know why it matters?
Or is your language too broad?
So too many homepages, I'verealized, are reading like they
could belong to a dozen otherorganizations, and I know this

(02:16):
might be hard to hear becauseyou're like, wait, but our
mission does, and okay, but youknow that, but the person
landing on your page doesn't.
So what makes your specific workunique?
Super important Is the optionof monthly giving, visible right
away.
Is it in that top header?
Does it have its own button?
Is there a banner If you have adonation form right on your

(02:39):
homepage?
So not just a button, but anactual form.
Is monthly giving an obviouschoice?
Is the value proposition thereof why to give.
So an example of a recentepisode I just had Kate on from
the Trevor Project and sheshared that adding this one line
of text to their donation form,which was monthly giving,
powers our work.

(03:00):
That line, that tiny change,led to a 50% increase in monthly
donations Wild right.
So do we want to call out thefact that this is what powers
your work, that it's soimportant?
Number one is is your messagingunmistakably clear and distinct
to you?

(03:20):
Tip number two is do you haveand you've heard me probably say
this before if you listen toother episodes do you have, a
specific monthly giving landingpage?
So does your website have adedicated page that explains
your monthly giving communityand program, what it's called,
why it exists, what you as thesupporter make possible through

(03:42):
this gift?
This is your space, this isyour real estate to cast the
vision, build that sense ofcommunity, tell people why
monthly donors matter so much toyour mission.
This is not just a button, thisis not just a form.
This is a space where you'rebuilding that capacity to be
able to showcase what themission does.
So when someone always asks medo I really need a separate

(04:04):
monthly giving page?
Yes, because just like how weare on sales pages sometimes of
purchasing.
We want all the information, somake it a no brainer for people
to support your organization.
Tip number three adding a pop-upto your top pages.
So this is something I justwent through with an
organization during a VIPintensive that I'm working with

(04:24):
them on is check your GoogleAnalytics and find what are your
top five most visited pages.
Oftentimes it might be a blogpost that you have, maybe it's
your about page or it's yourteam page, like you might be
surprised what your top fivepages are, and then ask is there
a donation ask on this page?

(04:46):
Is there a way for someone togive?
Pop-ups are an easy winopportunity to grab somebody's
attention, especially if they'rescrolling.
Whatever, you can set yourpop-up parameters to be where
they pop up at 30% scrolling orthis many seconds.
But what's really crucial is youwant to ditch the generic

(05:06):
language.
We want to make it feel urgent,we want to make it feel
emotional and we want to make itfeel on brand to your cause.
So I am loving working with theWoodhull Freedom Foundation
shout out to that team and I wasworking on rewriting or really
creating their pop-up copy, so Iwanted to share this example
with you just to showcase howit's not basic at all, very

(05:28):
specific to them.
So the header will say freedomneeds funding Super clear, bold.
The body copy says we're upagainst policies and platforms
threatening basic rights.
Monthly donors and the VanguardSociety help us resist, respond
and protect what matters everyday.

(05:49):
So it is showcasing a littlebit what their mission is.
It says the name of the monthlygiving program and what you're
helping to do and the call toaction button says yes, I'm in.
So intent, powerful, right.
So think about what could yourpop-up say to move someone to
action.
Tip number four is make youremail list sign up irresistible.

(06:15):
So oftentimes on websites I'vebeen realizing the join at the
bottom in the footer.
Normally there's an area wheresomebody can sign up for your
newsletter and it quiteliterally says that Join our
newsletter, sign up for ouremail list.
And I'm not sure how activeyours is on people actually
doing that if that is thelanguage.
But I don't join thosetypically because it sounds

(06:39):
pretty boring.
Join our newsletter.
Well, what am I going to get?
What's it about?
Why would I join this?
So for Woodhull, we wanted tocreate some really compelling
language.
No one wants another newsletter.
Let's retire the statement,join our newsletter.
So for them.
The header says the resistancehas a mailing list.
Oh, that just gets me like sofired up to say that.

(07:00):
The body says sign up for news,action alerts and bold ideas
for building a future rooted infreedom and justice, and then
the button says join in.
That is bold, it is clear, itspeaks to belonging and that's
what we want.
So how can you make that copymore powerful?

(07:21):
Test it, watch it over twomonths time and see how it
differs from your previousconversion on that form.
Okay, last tip, we are at numberfive Clean out your email list.
So I just did a campaign.
The team and the email openrates were super low, and so we
want to revitalize that list.

(07:42):
We want it to showcase a higheropen rate.
We want to get rid of peoplethat are just really drawing the
list down.
So if people have not openedyour emails in over 60 days 60
days plus it is time to removethem, because they are just
dragging down that email openrate and they hurt the
deliverability of your emails.

(08:02):
So we really want to focus onbuilding a list of engaged
supporters that doesn't have tobe a big one.
Who are the engaged people thatare actually going to take
action?
So here's the kind of likekicker to all of this and why
I'm sharing this now.
We know that traditionallythere's been a lull in giving
during summer months, but GivingTuesday's Data Commons team

(08:25):
tells us that there's a majormissed opportunity here.
If we look at consumer retailspending during June, july,
august, it actually spikes.
There's a bump right now.
Why?
Well, think about the textmessages or the emails or the
direct mail pieces you'regetting right now from those
businesses.
There's July 4 sales.
There's going to be Labor Daysales.

(08:45):
There's vacations happening.
Naturally, there's been aconsumer bump in the past, so
usually that is a prettyconsistent trend.
So what if we leaned intomaking an ask during this time?
If you do, giving Tuesday hasprojected there's a potential
for a 25% increase in givingduring the summer.

(09:09):
That represents an annualimpact of $22.5 billion yes,
billion with a B.
So let's not go quiet.
Your website, your emails, thepop-ups they can be all part of
a system that captures attentionnow, not just in December, but
right now.
Not just in December, but rightnow.

(09:33):
Go on vacation, but make yoursite work for you when you're
not there.
So if today's tips helped Ihope they did I love to hear
from you.
Send me a DM on Instagram or aquick note on LinkedIn and let
me know what you're implementing, let me know what you think.
I hope you stay cool out there,inspired by what everyone's
doing in the space right now,and I will see you officially

(09:54):
with an episode on Wednesday.
Hope you're having a greatsummer.